Synchronicity for the Day: Numbers No. 2

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

That’s right people. Try to wrap your tongue around that bad boy. And try not to giggle like a thirteen year old at the innuendo in that last sentence. That’s the name of the fear of the number 666. Revelation 13:18 says, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.” It is this biblical reference that links this number to the Anti-Christ, and an assortment of superstitions and fears within the Christian faith have developed and persisted even today.

I don’t personally have this fear, as I am not a Christian, and have not been convinced that the entire contents of the Bible are true, either in a historical or moral sense. And since I am not burdened with this particular fear, when I have happened to meet people who have it, I find it hilarious. I once had a coworker who was telling a story in the office of a time that she was on vacation and the hotel room they assigned her was number 666. She demanded to have it changed because she was genuinely uncertain, despite the humorous way that she relayed the incident, as to whether it mightn’t bring her bad luck, or be a bad omen. I personally found this to be ridiculous. I don’t believe that any one number is particularly good or bad in and of itself. I acknowledge that I may take note of numerical coincidences and patterns that I see play out (this very post is about the same subject), but I’m not moving hotel rooms or demanding that a building rename the 13^th floor for me.

So for whatever reason, I one day got a bee in my bonnet to whip out my phone and take a picture every time I was out and about and saw someone with a car license plate that had the 666 in it. You know, for teh lulz. And I created a photo album on my Facebook page where I add these photos as they come up. At first it was just a dumb thing to do (OK, it still is), but now when I see one I get all excited. I frantically try to get my phone out and get the camera function working in time to capture the plate before the driver takes off. Sounds safe while on the freeway, right? Right??

That Dodge Dakota is the Devil!!!

Since I post these on Facebook, other people know about it and I encourage them to send me any plates if they come across them, but no one had sent me any yet. This morning my aunt calls me to fill me in on some family news, and she also mentions that she saw a 666 plate when she was out on her motorcycle and she wanted to send me a picture, but the driver turned before she could get a shot.

Then, later in the day, another Facebook friend, a former coworker, posted a picture on my wall of a 666 plate that he captured while he was driving. Nice! Two in one day!  I mean, I didn’t actually get a picture from my aunt, but her mentioning it was enough. I commented on my friend’s photo, telling him about my aunt and the plate she saw. He joked back that “these things come in threes; be on the lookout for another one!” to which I was able (I realized suddenly), to reply, “Trifecta complete!” because just last night I had snagged a pic of one of these plates just after leaving the bank.

Now I don’t impart any special meaning on incidents happening in threes especially. I just liked this dual synchronicity where not only did I have two different people think of me when they saw the plates on the same day, and I had just seen one myself, AND one of the people brought up the three factor when in fact his picture rounded out the three.

What does this one mean for me? Well, I did learn last night about a death in my family, albeit of a person whom I did not know extremely well. I can’t say that this incident, or the musical coincidence from yesterday really pertained to the passing of this person, but I think I would like to consult the Collective on the board and ask, mainly for my own record-keeping purposes. If I can begin to see patterns in this occurrences I am documenting, this may lead me to be able to interpret these synchronicities more easily on the future.